Seventh Son

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Summary: The first book of The Tales of Alvin Maker, a slow opening
Review: The first book in Orson Scott Card's "Tales of Alvin Maker" series, SEVENTH SON introduces the reader to a remarkable alternate history in which early 19th-centrury America looks much different than our own and folk magic is real.

The novel opens with the tumultuous birth of Alvin Miller, a seventh son of a seventh son, as his family moves through Ohio hoping to start a better life in frontier territory. Alvin's heritage means he'll have great powers, and even from the start it becomes apparent that some force is moving against him. Through this slim first novel, we are acquainted with Alvin's boyhood and the world in which he lives, where hexes and beseechings are commonplace and actually work.

Card's alternate history is one in which the Restoration never happened in England, leaving the Puritans in power there and resulting in a very different America. The Stuart dynasty is in exile in the Southeast, New England is still run by fundamentalist Pilgrims, and the United States consists of only a few key states between. West of this, in what in our world would be Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, is the frontier where Alvin grows up.

SEVENTH SON is a very light opening to The Tales of Alvin Maker, and the action begins really from the second book, RED PROPHET, in which Alvin's destiny is revealed. Card gives one just enough here to see if it's right for the reader. For myself, I found Card's setting so fascinating that I went on to the rest of the series. I give the book only three stars for two reasons. One was I didn't like the fact that he made the first book so insubstantial compared to the subsequent novels. The second is that while the series is very good, Card's strength is his ideas, not his writing. His prose is clunky, especially when he tries his "aw, shucks" narrative voice. While I would indeed recommend SEVENTH SON to those who like the concept of an alternate America, The Tales of Alvin Maker is not destined for great literature.

Incidentally, The Tales of Alvin Maker is much like another series Card was working on at the same time, the Homecoming books. Both series include Mormon allegory, child protagonists, and the series even touch on one another with the same mystical dream figuring in both. I'd recommend that series if one enjoys The Tales of Alvin Maker.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent start
Review: Alvin is the seventh son of a seventh son, and the thirteenth child, with all the powers that brings him in this first book of a so-far open-ended fantasy series. Magic, of a sort, is in the world, though it's wielded only by people with a "knack". Some knacks are stronger than others.

Alvin, being a young boy, hasn't yet got a handle on what he is. This book tells about him and his family in a way that left me looking for the second book.

This is a very readable fantasy.

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Summary: Alvin Miller
Review: I read Seventh Son after reading the Ender series, and although they were a little bit too similar, it was still a great book. It takes place in "America" around the 1800's. However, instead of Indians and Pioneers, there were makers and torches. In this alternate America, folk magic and the church fight a bitter battle, and a family stands right in the middle. Alvin Miller has six daughters and six sons with a seventh son on the way. As the family tries to cross the Hatrack River the oldest son, Vigor, is swept downstream by a log as the rest of the family continues to a town where the torch lives. Her name is Peggy and as Alvin Junior is born, Peggy sees Vigor's spark die, therefore making Alvin the seventh son of a seventh son and possibly a maker. A maker is someone who sees things get destroyed and tries to make things to even everything out. A torch is someone who can see people's "sparks" which are in your heart, to see what you're thinking and if you're being honest or not. The birth of a seventh son was great enough, but the seventh son of a seventh son was one of the most powerful births that could happen. Because of this Alvin Junior is sought out to be killed by some outside force, and there's only one person that can help him. I liked this book a lot because it deals with things that I can relate to and tells a story that is original beyond the author's work.

Rating:
Summary: Great start to the series
Review: This first book of the "Maker" series provides the reader with entertaining characters and with only a light veneer of the mumbo-jumbo that bogs down "Red Prophet." Card takes the time to set out believable characters that interact normally -- nothing is forced. The storyline moves right along and provides a consistent stream of interesting developments. Highly recommended.

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Summary: This is fantasy, not sci fi...
Review: Sci-fi lovers who like Card because of his Ender books may be a little frustrated by the change of pace here, but Card is a master story teller, and this book is one of his most intimate, beautiful works. It's a story about a boy named Alvin Maker, who has extraordinary, perhaps even religious, capabilities. The saga of Alvin Maker is uplifting and powerful, set in a far different America in the time of cowboys and Indians. In some ways, Alvin (surprise) resembles Ender Wiggin. Definitely a must for Card fans and lovers of fantasy fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Slow start, nice finish
Review: After reading the Enders saga, which had its falts but yet was very enjoyable I wanted to read more Card books. I looked forward to this series and was dissapointed with it for the first 100 pages. After the initial shock of a new style of writing I began to enjoy it, with the help of some different charecters. It is worth the time to read it, barely.

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Summary: Great begining, totally adsorbing.
Review: This fantasy set in an alternate American history, is yet another adsobing character book from Card. The story is about a young boy with special magical powers, who is constantly under attack from an unseen enemy, and always protected by an unseen gaurdian. While the story is written as a loose allegory on the life of Josheph Smith (founder of the Mormon church), this does nothing to take away from the magic of the story telling, or make the ideas less relavent to people such as myself who know little or nothing about him.

This book has Card doing what he does best. Having very real and adsobing characters, act out on real and mostly unseen enemies. Most of the action in this book takes place within the minds and speech of the characters. The battles that take place are subtle and magical, more battles of will than battles of physical prowess.

Rarely have I been more caught up in story, or with it's unnervingly real characters than I was with this book. My only concern with this series is that I am not sure where it is going. This series has a lot of promise, and I hope that the rest of this series lives up to this book.

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Summary: One of the most magnificent books I've ever read.
Review: This book was wonderful, magical, and beautifully written. I couldn't believe how great it was. I liked Orson Scott Card's science fiction, but I wasn't sure if it would transfer over to his fantasy. If anything, this book is far more intricately weaved and created than those are. I can't recommend it enough.

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Summary: Seventh Son: The Magic and the Struggle
Review: I enjoyed Seventh Son and would recommend it to anyone. It takes place in the colonial era of America, but there are many differences. For one, the old monarchs of England rule in the south after Oliver Cromwell took over, there is no United States of America, and most of what we consider colonial America is split into different countries. Also, many people seem to have some sort of magic or "knack." Here enters Alvin Miller, who is the seventh son of a seventh son, making him twice blessed. He was gifted with the possibility of becoming a Maker, someone who can make things out of thin air. The book is about Alvin as he grows from his birth and goes through the attempts on his life by what can only be called evil itself. Mostly he doesn't notice them because he has an unseen protector in the form of Peggy who was present at his birth.

I think this book is good because it puts the presence of magic in a place we already know-our past. It makes the possibility of magic seem more likely because it includes people from our history. One such person was Benjamin Franklin, who great scientific works made many people think he was a Maker. Another was Thomas Jefferson, a politician in the country of Apalachee. The list goes on. The way Card ties real people into his work of fiction lends their credibility to his book and its events. Everybody wants to believe that magic exists, and this book brings out that feeling in its readers, igniting the hope that there is real magic, even if its only things always knowing a lie, or being able to charm people into agreeing with you, or other such "knacks" that people have.

Also, like many other great stories, Seventh Son is a story about Good vs. Evil, Light vs. Dark, Creator vs. Destroyer. One such story known worldwide is Star Wars. People are attracted to that age-old struggle because it is completely universal. They talk of days when supernatural things occurred regularly, and have the same fight against evils of the world. Everybody can relate to stories such as these because they all want to live in a better world. because the better world doesn't exist here, we all like to hear or read or see stories where we see people fighting for, and achieving, that goal.

If you are a science fiction/fantasy fan, I highly recommend this book to you. It is a short read, and it has a great story line. If you aren't a sci-fi/fantasy fan, i still recommend this book to you, and pretty much for the same reasons. If you like it, than I urge you to read the rest of the series, which continues on with Alvin's life and have the same motif as Seventh Son.

Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: Like some of the rest of you have mentioned I thought it very interesting that this was set in an altnate early 19th century. You don't see that very often. Good story the charecters have life and ambitions. Very good work Mr. Card